What a fun evening! Sculling and sailing through the creeks and marshes at Wells next the Sea, on a traditonal flat bottomed mussel boat, with our skipper Dom entertaining us with stories of the sea and a half time picnic of local cheeses, quiche, salads, bread and freshly brewed coffee. (We took our own wine). Henry from The Coastal Exploration Company has thought of everything when organising the trips and even for you landlubbers out there the three or four hour sail, on the tide, is just the most magical way to spend a summers evening.

• our boat ready and waiting for us at Wells harbour
• and we're off
• picnic time with local goodies including fabulousBrays pork pies
• and out comes the kettle to make a cafetiere of coffee
• Dom kept us entertained with his humble charm and wit
• the tide turns
• back before dark
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Superb seafood and freshly filled baguettes here at Brancaster Staithe. Crabs and lobsters are from the owner's own boat Speedwell that fishes out of the harbour. You don't get much fresher than that!

• the menu
• seasonal opening hours
• stuffed full of freshly picked crabmeat
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My favourite, fun food website and social media fix at the moment. Check out Biscuit Week when mylegoman gets baking with Claire Clark.

All was revealed last week when I was invited to a 'Secret Garden' barbecue at Bildeston Crown and discovered the beautiful walled garden, tucked away at the back of the inn. You can book it exclusively for yourself and up to sixteen people for an al fresco meal. It has access through a gate from the car park or via the new very cosy lounge and Champagne bar (more about that another time). It's cook your own on the inset grills which run down the centre of the table, allowing you to barbecue delicious meats and vegetables yourself without having to move. Chef and owner Chris Lee is on hand to make sure no one goes hungry or burns anything they shouldn't. Ice buckets fill the gaps where there's no grill ensuring that the wine is as perfectly chilled as the guests. With delightful service from Hayley and the young, professional team at Bildeston Crown we enjoyed glasses of refreshing chilled rose and were delivered superb side salads, hot side dishes, dips and sauces to accompany the Red Poll steaks, homemade beef burgers, chicken kebabs and marinated pork. We cooked our meat on the grills, slowly grazing away well into the afternoon. If you fancy your own al fresco feast speak to Chris or Hayley who will tailor a menu for you. Prices start at £30 a head and I'll put my money on the cute little courtyard working well in the winter months too. Braziers, patio heaters, hot grills, vin chaud, raclette, Pierre-chaude and fondue ...just an idea.

• the inset grills, fired up and ready
• it was easy to reach the grills from our comfy chairs
• we cooked our own beef burgers
• just some of the hot side dishes
• drum roll .. as the food starts to arrive ... what will we be cooking?
• delicious side dishes kept on coming, including the Bildeston classic lobster Caesar salad
• thick cut Red Poll steaks were beautifully tender
• vegetable kebabs were delicious too
• chilled rose wine, ready and waiting
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